Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus including a display panel.
Description of the Background Art
Along with the prevalence of electronic information devices in recent years, there has been a widespread proliferation of a display apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as “liquid crystal display apparatus” that includes a rugged protective member located on the front surface of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel being a display panel.
The glass bonding technique is employed in the majority of liquid crystal display apparatuses in order to meet the object A described below. One example of the object A is to prevent the deterioration of visibility caused by surface reflection of extraneous light. Another example of the object A is to protect the liquid crystal display apparatuses against, for example, impact, intrusion of water, and dust from the outside. The glass bonding mentioned above is the technique for integrating, through transparent resin, the display surface of the liquid crystal display apparatus with the protective member or the touch panel being a transparent member.
The liquid crystal display apparatuses in which the glass bonding technique is employed have, for example, the configuration (hereinafter also referred to as “configuration N”) including the protective member that is larger than the display panel (LCD panel), to thereby improve the design of the liquid crystal display apparatuses. The configuration N includes a frame that holds and fixes the protective member and the LCD panel. The frame has the function of dust resistance and water resistance that can be integrated with the design housing of the liquid crystal display apparatus.
Japanese Patent application Laid-Open No. 2012-173955 discloses a technique (hereinafter also referred to as “related art A”) for improving dust resistance and water resistance. In particular, according to the related art A, an elastic member is disposed between the periphery of the touch panel and the support such that the elastic member adheres closely to the touch panel and the support. That is, the gap between the touch panel and the support is sealed with the elastic member. This prevents the intrusion of, for example, dust and moisture, into the housing of the electronic device (display apparatus).
However, the related art A presents the following problem. In particular, according to the related art A, the touch panel being the transparent member is held by the undersurface portion (the support) of the housing. Consequently, the housing according to the related art A needs to have many members including the side surface portion and the undersurface portion (the support).
There is a recent trend toward, for example, lightweight display apparatuses. However, the housing according to the related art A needs to have many members, failing to meet the demand for, for example, lightweight display apparatus. For example, the amount of material of the frame included in the display apparatus needs to be reduced in order to achieve the weight reduction of the display apparatus.